Save Bats from White-nose Syndrome and Extinction

Save Bats from White-nose Syndrome and Extinction

Urge Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to take immediate
action to protect North American bats from deadly disease and
loss of habitat.

The survival of North American bats, including several
federally listed endangered species, is at stake. In addition to
dealing a tremendous blow to biodiversity, losing insect-eating
bats could trigger explosive increases in insect populations,
with serious repercussions for agriculture, forestry, and
possibly even human health.

A biological meltdown is occurring right before our eyes. The
survival of North American bats, including several federally
listed endangered species, is at stake. In addition to dealing a
tremendous blow to biodiversity, losing insect-eating bats could
trigger explosive increases in insect populations, with serious
repercussions for agriculture, forestry, and possibly even human
health.

A deadly new disease called white-nose syndrome has swept
several eastern states over the past two winters, killing bats
where they over winter -- sometimes wiping out entire
hibernation sites. To date, over 1 million bats are estimated to
have died from the disease. White-nose syndrome was first
documented near Albany, New York in the winter of 2006-2007.
Since then, it has spread rapidly throughout the state and into
neighboring Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Last
winter, the disease was discovered in five new states: New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and
Virginia. If current trends continue, the disease could soon hit
some of the most significant bat caves in the world, located in
the South and Midwest.

Among the bat species at risk are the federally listed
Indiana bat, Virginia big-eared bat, and gray bat. Winter
surveys this year indicate that Indiana bats have declined
dramatically in New York, where the species had previously been
staging a recovery. Virginia big-eared bats are especially
vulnerable to an epidemic like white-nose syndrome; their entire
global population winters in only a few caves in West Virginia
and nearby states.

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